Managing director Simon Girardier said the outlook for this year remained good in Winvic’s key markets with turnover expected to reach almost £700m for 2019.

To meet rising workload demands from a 29% jump in turnover to £628m, Winvic raised staff headcount by a third to 275 over 2018.

But raised costs and investment in growth dampened pre-tax profit by a third to £20m. Operating margin fell from 6.4% previously to 3.2% in the year ending January 2019.

Girardier said: “We grew our workforce substantially this year to support our planned strategic growth predominantly in our operations teams to support project delivery but with additional capacity added across all key business support functions.”

He added that the industrial market remained strong and Winvic enjoyed a strong forward order book of £420m in this subsector.

There was another year of growth in the multi-room market of flats and student accommodation, which accounts for a fifth of group turnover.

In the next few years, this is expected to grow to 30%, helping to meet demand where one in four are forecast to be renting by 2021.

Also as part of this growth plan, Winvic strengthened its position in the build to rent market with seven schemes in construction, ranging from £20m-£45m.